CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR The Sweetest Man She Ever Met

Sirius and Ophelia had hardly gone a minute without being in each other's company in the weeks that followed. It had gotten so that Remus had insisted they stay in the sitting room so that he could keep an eye on them.

"I think we scared them away." muttered Sirius, as they broke apart for a few brief moments. "Where'd they go?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Not at all."

"I think they're outside." said Ophelia, despite herself.

He grinned impishly. "What a shame."

She giggled, but the smile soon slipped from her face. "What day is it?"

"Er... I don't know. The twentieth?"

She quickly sat up, throwing Sirius off the couch. "I have to meet Professor Flitwick this afternoon. I have to go."

"Where?"

"Where else? The Three Broomsticks, he wants a cherry syrup and soda."

"Well do you want to go out after?"

Ophelia stooped down and kissed him on the forehead. "Sure. Meet me round six. Bye!"

She hopped into the fireplace, said, "Flitwick House.", and dropped a handful of the grey Floo powder into the hearth.

When she opened her eyes, she warily stepped from the grate and into Professor Flitwick's house. It reminded her somewhat of a Muggle gingerbread house.

She looked round at the little pixies strung up on his walls and to the dishes of candy placed in every free space.

A bushy tuft of white hair peeked out from around the corner. "Hello Miss-- er, Ophelia." he squeaked. "I thought I heard someone come in. Please, please, have a seat."

She sat down in one of the low couches and sunk down to her tiny teacher's height. "How's your summer been, Professor?"

"Oh quiet well. You remember I was enrolled in the Great Britain Dueling Contest?"

"Of course, how did you do?"

He gestured to a shiny, golden medal hanging above the mantle. "For the components who were brave enough to stand against me, I won eight out of nine tournaments." he exclaimed proudly.

"Congratulations, Professor. How many were afraid to face you?"

"Eleven. I suppose they heard about my previous track record."

Ophelia grinned. "Well done."

"Shall we be off then?" he suggested, gathering his coat from the rocking chair. "I haven't had a cherry syrup in such a long time."

He led her outside onto the cobblestone path that led into the heart of Hogsmeade, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets.

"Dear Ophelia," he began, "What have you been doing with your break? Have you gotten your OWLs back yet? I'm sure you received nothing less than an O on your Charms."

"Thank you, Professor. I hope you're right, I need NEWT Charms to get into the Merlin Academy's Auror training program."

"So you have decided then?" he asked, holding open the door to the Three Broomsticks for her. "You're pursuing a career as an Auror?"

"It's what my uncle thought best."

"Adolphus? He's a fine man. I met him once at an Ord--" Professor Flitwick stopped himself. "I met him once."

She nodded. "Well it's nice to know that my two favourite wizards know each other."

He turned a few shades of red, which deeply stuck out against his pearly white hair. "Miss Lupin, you do know how to make an old man blush."

The Professor ordered them a round of drinks and they found a cleared table near the front of the store.

"So have you done anything interesting the past month?" he repeated.

Ophelia thought for a moment. "Not really. I went to see a film, an actual Muggle film."

"Oh, I've always wanted to go." he chuckled. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Er.. yes. We had to leave rather early, though, We were about to be kicked out."

"Why is that?"

She shrugged and took a sip of her cherry syrup and soda. "I was yelling at my brother. He was being a prat. He was... spying on, er, me. Mmm, this is good."

"Isn't it?" he smiled, a red line forming round his mouth.

The bells above the door rang, and Pandora entered, Winifred and Mikela trailing slightly behind.

She glanced round the pub, her head doing a double-take when she noticed Professor Flitwick and Ophelia sitting across from each other.

"Good afternoon, Professor. Ophelia." she said, in the achingly sweet voice she usually reserved for Sirius. "Are you doing a little remedial Charms work?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Cygnus." he answered politely. "No, I'm afraid if anything Ophelia here would be teaching me a thing or two about Charms."

She faked a smile and returned to her friends.

"I'm going to guess that you and Miss Cygnus are not friends?"

Ophelia shook her head. "No, furthest from."

"I thought as much. It's a shame this animosity that has developed between the Houses." he said, a certain sadness coming to his tired eyes. "When I was a young lad, Ravenclaw and Slytherin and Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were friends amongst ourselves. Those were happier times though."

"I don't dislike Pandora because she's a Slytherin, I don't like her because she's... not a pleasant person."

"Although there can be other reasons, as well."

A few glasses of cherry soda later, Professor Flitwick was looking a bit drowsy. "Not to worry," he assured her. "I've only missed my afternoon siesta."

It was around this time that Sirius arrived, quickly finding them in the bustling crowd.

"Good evening, Professor." he said courteously, shaking the older wizard's hand.

"Ah, Mister Black. It seems to be a sort of Hogwarts reunion here."

Sirius and Ophelia exchanged a glance, and she motioned over to the darkened corner where Pandora had stationed herself.

"Er.. Sirius is here to... pick me up." she explained.

Professor Flitwick looked between them. "Am I right in assuming the two of you are something of a... couple?"

"Y-Yes."

He snapped his fingers. "I've won the pool! Minerva owes me twenty Sickles."

"Glad we could help." replied Sirius, as the tiny wizard got to his feet. He swayed a little as he stood and Sirius insisted he and Ophelia would walk him home once they had taken care of the bill.

Pandora sauntered over to him as he stood at the counter trying to get Rosemerta's attention. "Hello Sirius. Fancy meeting you here. Would you like to come join me in the.. back?"

He clicked his tongue and handed the barmaid his money. "I'm with my girlfriend, Dora, otherwise... no, not even then. Good night."

Together, they accompanied Professor Flitwick back to his gingerbread house, where he retired for the night after feeding his Puffeskein.